Monday, July 10, 2006

The Dog Interview


Our kids currently consist of 2 mutts (lab mixes of some sort), 3 cats and some fish. We often have to board them--the dogs--when we go on vacation. With our upcoming travel--eventually--to Ethiopia we are looking into a new boarding facility. It is crateless--meaning the dogs are never in cages/kennels unless it is feeding time, then they are put in crates to eat. The rest of the time the dogs are out running in one of the yards or indoor playrooms. I dislike boarding my dogs because I hate to have them locked up for so long each day--they are only out for 4 hours a day at our current boarding establishment.

Before they are accepted into the facility they must go in for an interaction interview. I am taking them tomorrow. Maybe I should bath them tonight and make them look thier prettiest so that they make a good impression. It amazes me how nervous I am about my babies--they aren't babies anymore they are nearly 7 years old now. I am not looking foward to tomorrow's interview, as I don't want it to go poorly. I don't know why I worry. They have been boarded lots and been to doggie day care many a days. But, I am still nervous. I love my dog babies and would hate for them to be rejected. They have very high self-esteem but being rejected could adversly affect them in some way. Well I will sit them down tonight and tell them the severity and importance of tomorrows big interview and hope that all goes well. As this boarding facilty is $15 a day cheaper than the current place and so much nicer. Wish us luck.

I am just thankful that I am not going to be part of the whole preschool interview thing. If it is hard with dogs I can't imagine how I would be before the day of my children's interview. Ug...

4 comments:

writex3 said...

Remember this post and then re-read it after Noah has been home for a year or so. If you're anything like us, your standards for pet care will have, um, diminished.... (-:

ps-Our dogs love us anyway - that's the best part about them!

Anonymous said...

Hi Dawn,
I second the fact that our dogs are treated more like dogs now (still well loved and cared for of course). For our daughter's nursery school the two teachers did HOME visits to meet the kids on their own turf. I had not heard of that but apparently it is common. Anyway, I was cleaning almost as much as for our homestudy LOL :-).
Lynda

Fizzle said...

Dawn, that's totally sweet and I completely understand. Crating dogs for the majority of the day isn't ideal. No friends to watch them? Or trusted college students nearby the stay at your house?

We are infinitely lucky. A friend travels often and lives in a small apartment. We take care of her pup when she's gone. The return favor is that whenever we're out of town, she takes ours and stays here, which has a yard for her guy and more space for her!

Dawn said...

Fizzle--We have tried it with someone we trust to take care of our dogs. But no one takes as good of care of them. We walk them twice a day and spend a lot of time with them. Our neighbors have offered, but again, they don't walk their own dogs. We know they get plenty of attention and exercise when we board them and at the new place they are free to roam and play at will--nothing is as good as home, but this is the next best thing.